Abstract
The present investigation examined the correspondence of teacher ratings and direct observations of classroom behavior. Techers, extraclass raters, and observers completed standard rating scales and/or measures of overt classroom behaviors of psychiatric inpatient children (N=32). The study assessed if the correspondence between ratings and direct observations was influenced by who evaluates the child (teachers, raters) and the assessment format (general ratings, discrete behaviors). The results indicated that (1) measures from different assessors correlated in the low to moderate range, (2) data from extraclass raters corresponded more closely with direct observations than with data from teachers, (3) teacher and rater estimates of overt child behavior did not correlate more highly with direct observations than did standard rating scales, and (4) teachers and raters viewed child behavior as more appropriate than direct observations indicated. Measures from teachers, raters, and observers readily distinguished attention deficit disorder children with hyperactivity from their peers. However, teacher evaluations delineated these children more sharply than other assessors.
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Edelbrock, C., & Achenbach, T. M. The teacher version of the Child Behavior Profile: L Boys aged 6–11. Unpublished manuscript, 1983.
Edelbrock, C., Costello, A. J., & Kessler, M. D. Empirical corroboration of the attention deficit disorder. Paper presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, Washington, D.C., October 1982.
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Completion of this paper was facilitated by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) to the first author from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Kazdin, A.E., Esveldt-Dawson, K. & Loar, L.L. Correspondence of teacher ratings and direct observations of classroom behavior of psychiatric inpatient children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 11, 549–564 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917084
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00917084